June 4, 2003
No. 2003-3

STRAIGHT TALK ON SARS FROM THE CDC MAY DEFINE WHAT IS A REASONABLE POLICY

Recent weeks have found SARS or Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome making headlines and prompting some employers with contacts or employees in China, Toronto or other affected areas to adopt SARS policies.

Breaking through some of the media hype, employers should be cognizant of the scope and risks of the problem as reported by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), an arm of the U.S. Government:

• At this time, CDC is not recommending quarantine of all persons returning from areas with SARS without any symptoms.

• Persons returning from areas with SARS, however, should be vigilant for fever and respiratory symptoms within 10 days of their return.

• Persons with such symptoms should seek medical attention and remain at home and not go to work or other public areas.

• SARS appears to spread primarily by close person-to-person contact, such as situations where persons have cared for, lived with or had direct contact with respiratory secretions and/or body fluids of persons known to be suspect SARS cases.

• Potential transmission sources include touching the skin of the other person or objects that become contaminated with infectious droplets and then touching eyes, nose or mouth.

While the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a SARS notice, it does not apply to all workplaces. Rather, OSHA offers advice on those specific workplaces where SARS exposure is likely and risky such as health care facilities, hospitals or airlines.

Is SARS a disability under the federal Americans with Disability Act (ADA) or state disability laws? Probably not, to the extent it is a temporary infliction. But if employees with SARS or simply exposed to SARS are treated differently than others, they could fall within the protections for those “regarded” or “perceived” as disabled. And, if tempted to require medical certification of a non-symptomatic employee because of fear of SARS, an employer could run afoul of ADA restrictions on medical examinations and inquiries.

Our advice:

SARS policies may be advisable for those employers with frequent international travel to or from areas of SARS outbreaks. While some employers have quarantined returning workers, the CDC does not consider quarantine of non-symptomatic travelers to be a medical necessity at this time. In addition, in developing and applying a SARS policy, employers must act in a nondiscriminatory manner and should be mindful of disability law restrictions on medical examinations.

If adopted, a SARS policy should keep up with the latest information. Up-to-date information can be obtained from the CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars), from the World Health Organization (WHO) (http://www.who.int/csr/sars/guidelines/en/) and from OSHA at (http://www.osha.gov/dep/sars/index.html) or contact us:

Tom Bahrman tbahrman@nsslaw.com
Jeff Chicoine jchicoine@nsslaw.com
Wayne Landsverk wlandsverk@nsslaw.com
Verne Newcomb newcomb@nsslaw.com
Rick Pope rpope@nsslaw.com
Jack Schwartz schwartz@nsslaw.com
Brian Thompson bthompson@nsslaw.com
Kjersten Turpen kturpen@nsslaw.com


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